Saelen grunted as the t’kth-vaal dropped him heavily into a storage cell. The stench of decaying flesh assaulted his sensitive nose and he recoiled against it. A moment later, he felt the weight of Pairdra’s body hit his as his lover was dumped next to him.

They both lay very still until the t’kth-vaali left the chamber, the lock clanking closed behind them. Only then did they move, rolling over until they were upright and facing each other. Pairdra looked at Saelen, a worried expression on his face. The t’kth-vaali had taken more blood from him, which would leave Saelen weak. Once again he cursed their bad luck, picking the wrong time to go visit the human village at far edge of their territory.

Saelen sent Pairdra a reassuring glance. He knew Pairdra was worried, but there was little they could do about it. They had to find a way out of this fix; their lives depended on it. The t’kth-vaali had gotten enough humans that they wouldn’t want to eat the siv partners, but that only meant that after using their blood in a religious ceremony and to tenderize the humans, they’d kill them. Saelen tested his bonds again, noting that one of the ties holding his tail down had loosened during transport.

Pairdra set aside his worry and did the same thing, methodically testing the bonds that held him down. He, too, found that some had loosened; between being carried around and rubbing against his slick fur, the knots had given way slightly.

After more than an hour of twitching and pushing, Saelen had freed his tail, while Pairdra had nearly freed the fingers of one hand. A few minutes later, Saelen’s tail crept around to help Pairdra. With that assistance, Pairdra’s hand was freed even quicker, and he set about untying the rest of his appendages.

Once he’d gotten himself completely untied, Pairdra worked on Saelen’s bonds. The smaller siv had used his tail to work on the knots, so there was little left to be done. Once they were freed, they collapsed together on the floor. They were both still weak from blood loss and more than a day without food or water.

"Y’ok?" Pairdra whispered, running his hands over Saelen’s body, looking for injuries.

"Y’m fine," he replied, repeating the favor for Pairdra. He smiled at Pairdra’s worry, knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

"So, how’d y’come up with a way to get us outta here?" Pairdra asked, knowing that Saelen had figured that out as soon as they’d arrived.

"Guards’re off at moonrise. Use the rafters," Saelen whispered back. Pairdra nodded silently. Simple was best, and no one would be looking for a pair of siv in the middle of the night. The t’kth-vaali probably figured they’d be too weak from blood loss to get away. Had only one of them been drained, that probably would have happened, but splitting the burden between the two of them made it easier.

"Wonder about the human," Saelen said quietly.

Pairdra did as well. The strangely dressed man had simply wandered into the middle of a raid, and didn’t even put up a fight. There wasn’t much hope for him, though. T’kth-vaali rituals were both brutal and fatal. The siv blood he’d been given would start to change him. Once the change was well underway, he’d be sacrificed, and then consumed. The rest of his short stay in this life would be little but pain.

The pair lay quietly on the floor, reserving their strength, until the moon was well risen and the guards had retired for their evening meal. Only then did Pairdra get up, pulling Saelen with him. The smaller siv collected up the rope they’d been bound with. It might come in handy during their escape.

The door was, of course, locked, but that didn’t matter. The walls of the large storage cells ended about four feet below the ceiling, to make way for the rafters and allow air flow. The opening was high enough that no human could reach it, but the more nimble, tree-climbing siv had no such problems. Fortunately for them, t’kth-vaali buildings were designed to contain humans, not siv. The pair used the wall as a spring board and easily caught onto the lowest rafter, swinging up and onto the wooden beams. They immediately set off, jumping and swinging through the forest of poles and crossbeams, looking for the best way out.

About halfway through the huge stables, Saelen stopped dead. Pairdra followed his lead, becoming motionless. The smaller siv pointed down toward the floor. They were in a different area of the stables now, one that housed live humans. Pairdra saw nothing amiss below them, and shot Saelen an odd glance.

"The human," Saelen hissed. Pairdra sniffed deeply and nodded. The human was in one of the cells below them, still alive and undergoing changeover. From the look on Saelen’s face, it was obvious that he wanted to get the boy out.

"We can’t. How’d we move him?" Pairdra whispered. Saelen glared sharply.

"We can. We will. He’s one of us now," Saelen answered harshly. Pairdra frowned, but gave his assent. The boy may well not even make it, but Saelen had a point. He was, for all intents and purposes, a siv now, and they couldn’t leave him. Particularly since he was made of both of their bloods.

Saelen quickly knotted some rope together, handing one end to Pairdra and twining the other around his tail. He dived off the rafters, using the rope to control his fall. A second later, he landed noiselessly on the floor and darted toward the cells. He found the human in the second one he checked. The dark haired man was shaking and sweating, obviously in a great deal of pain. Saelen unclasped the door and darted inside, grateful that t’kth-vaali were so arrogant they didn’t think they needed to use key locks on their cells.

He grabbed up the human and ran out of the cell. As soon as Pairdra saw that he had the boy, he began to pull the rope up. Saelen used his feet to clamber up the rope, his ascent slowed only slightly by the human. Still, Pairdra could see how the extra weight tired out the weakened siv. He gave the rope back to Saelen, taking the human burden instead. He had more strength to expend on this fool’s mission. Saelen untied some of the human’s bonds, so that they could sling his bound arms over Pairdra’s head. He fastened a rope around the human’s waist, to give Pairdra more security in carrying the human. The gag they left in place, so that if the human woke, he wouldn’t give them away.

Saelen wound the rope back around one arm and took off again, looking for the exit. Pairdra followed behind, trying to ignore the quaking human he had clasped to his back. He used his long tail and a single length of rope Saelen had tied to the human to keep him in place.

A few minutes later, Saelen found a good exit and dropped down to the ground outside. Pairdra smiled when he saw where they were. They weren’t far from the main gates to the hold, just at the edge of the forest. Once the siv made it to the canopy, the t’kth-vaali would be unable to track them at all. Saelen didn’t stop, but instead made a beeline for the trees. Pairdra followed him, slowed slightly by his burden.

Saelen was surprised that they made it to the trees without any alarm being called. But then, t’kth-vaali were really sloppy sometimes. Sure, they were good at tying you up, but they were lazy with everything else.

Once in the canopy, Pairdra set an easy pace. There was no use in rushing the trek away from the t’kth-vaali hold, since their attackers couldn’t reach them anyway. They did need to put some space between them, because they now had a changing human to take care of. For that, they needed distance and a little more security.

Dawn was breaking when Saelen called a halt. He was almost out of energy, and Pairdra wasn’t much better. They settled down in a ghain mak, where they would have not only shelter, but food as well. Heavy red fruits drooped from the tree’s branches, and Saelen gathered several for them to eat.

Pairdra used Saelen’s rope to tie the human down, so if he woke he wouldn’t fall out of the tree. He then gratefully accepted the fruit and consumed two of them quickly, before slowly finishing off the third. The sweet, watery flesh provided much needed fluids as well, replenishing lost blood.

The human began to stir soon thereafter, and Saelen took up one of the more ripe fruits and went over to tend to him. Pairdra lifted the human slightly, removing the gag. Saelen sliced open the fruit with one small claw and let some of the juice trickle into the human’s mouth. The boy licked his lips and reached up for more of the liquid. Soon he had consumed all of the juice Saelen could squeeze out of the fruit, and was searching for more.

Xander felt liquid hit his tongue. His first instinct was to spit it out, because it might have been more blood. The flavor that burst on his tongue, however, was sweet and vaguely peach-like. He licked his lips, looking for more. He didn’t care at this point if his captors were teasing him or not. He was so thirsty. The liquid continued to flow, however, and he drank his fill.

When he finally got his eyes to open, he saw that the furry creatures were the ones taking care of him. The next thing he noticed was that he wasn’t in the cell. Then he realized he wasn’t bound. He tried to sit up, only to find that while he wasn’t bound up tightly, there were still restraints on his arms and legs. He fought them, trying to get away. He was in no mood to trade one captor for another.

"Calm, we aren’t going to hurt you," Saelen said softly in the human tongue. The boy stilled, his eyes widening.

Xander stared at the furry thing. It spoke English? "Who are you?"

The reddish-brown furred one answered him. "I’m Saelen, and this," he pointed to the black-furred, taller creature, "is Pairdra."

"Oh," Xander said. Well, at least he knew their names. "Um...I’m Xander. Why am I tied up?"

Saelen shifted closer. "We didn’t want you to fall."

"Fall?" Xander asked absently. Saelen pointed down, and Xander turned his head. Oh. He saw lots of leaves, and not much else. Looking up, he saw more leaves, and a glint of sunlight here and there. They must be in the trees he’d been walking amongst. "I want to go home."

"We’re trying to do that," Pairdra said calmly. While Saelen had more experience around changing humans, he wasn’t completely ignorant. They were often delusional, when the blood began to affect their minds.

"Good. 'Cause Anya is going to so get it," Xander said groggily.

"I’m sure," Saelen said, wondering who Anya was. He was in trouble, from the look on Xander’s face.

Xander passed out again soon thereafter, and Saelen and Pairdra made sure he was safely tied down before settling back for some rest. They curled up around each other, grateful to be alive and free again.

•••

Xander hadn’t regained consciousness that afternoon, when Saelen and Pairdra decided to continue on. They tied him onto Pairdra’s back and took off again, running and clambering through the trees. They stopped a couple of times for food, but didn’t really attempt to rest again until late into the evening.

Their human companion was awake when they stopped the last time. He didn’t look very happy, though. He started to talk as soon as they set him down. Angry, he batted away Saelen’s attempts to tie him to a branch.

"What the hell are you two doing with me?" He’d been awake for some time, watching his new captors run though the trees. He’d have tried to get away, but realized that being stuck in the treetops was a bad idea.

"We’re trying to get you away from the t’kth-vaali," Saelen said.

"The what?" Xander responded.

"The people that had you tied up, that wanted to kill you?" Pairdra said impatiently.

"Oh. And what are you, then?" Xander replied harshly. After all, they tied him up too.

"We’re siv," Saelen said. How had the human not known that? He was in an area that saw siv on a regular basis.

"I see," Xander spat. His head was still swimming and he was having a hard time concentrating.

"We’re not keeping you prisoner, but we have to get away from the t’kth-vaali. They want to kill you," Pairdra said slowly.

"Why?" Xander asked finally, trying to stay awake.

"Sacrifice," Saelen said.

"Why me?" Xander asked.

"You’re changing," Saelen replied.

"Huh? Into what?" Xander slurred out, watching in fascination as his vision blurred.

"A siv," Pairdra said. "The blood makes you change. Then, the t’kth-vaali will kill you." He didn’t add that they would then eat him.

"A what!?" Xander shouted, just before passing out.

"Oh. Wonder why he doesn’t know this stuff?" Saelen asked Pairdra. His mate just shrugged and chalked it up to the delusions that went along with being changed.

When Xander woke next, they were on the move again. He thought back to what the black siv had said. He was changing into one of them. A siv--the furry things that ran though the treetops. It wasn’t the first time a human had been changed into something else. But he liked being human, damn it!

Still, for all the tying up stuff, these two seemed to be nice enough. They gave him food and took care of him, and weren’t trying to pour blood down his throat. And he didn’t get the impression they wanted to kill him. Actually, he was grateful they’d taken him away from that horrible place. And, he’d seen them tied up when he’d been captured. They couldn’t be all bad, could they? When the rested the next time, he didn’t feign sleep, instead sitting up to watch his companions.

"So, is there a way to stop this change?" Xander asked as they ate some more of the peach-like fruit.

Saelen shook his head. "No. Once it’s begun, there’s nothing to do." The other siv said something in a strange, twittering language, and Saelen shook his head.

"What?" Xander asked, hating to be excluded from a conversation.

"Why don’t you know anything about where you are?" Pairdra asked. "You were in a human village in a siv region, near a t’kth-vaali region, but you don’t speak any language but human, and don’t know much about anything. And you dress funny."

"I dress funny?" Xander said gesturing toward the siv’s loose, plain trousers and shirts. They looked like pyjamas. The siv nodded together. Well, he supposed that to them, he did look funny.

"Um...I don’t think I’m from around here," Xander said finally. "In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m not from here at all."

To his surprise, the siv just nodded. "What, does this happen a lot? I mean, people from other worlds just appearing?" The siv shook their heads. "Then why aren’t you reacting?"

"Because there’s no reason to react. Things happen," Saelen said. After all, what good would an outburst be? It certainly wouldn’t answer their questions. Besides, there were rumors of others just appearing. It just happened, as Saelen had said.

"Mighty accepting of you," Xander said sarcastically. "So, where are we headed?"

"Home," Pairdra said. "To Ieccra."

"Oh," Xander said sleepily. He was, once again, tired. "This change thing, is it making me so tired?"

Saelen nodded. "Yes, that and you going without food for a couple of days. We’re trying to take it easy on you. The change takes a lot of time, and its best if you just go easy on yourself."

Xander nodded weakly and fell asleep, letting the soft, birdlike sounds of Pairdra and Saelen talking amongst themselves wash over him.

•••

The next several days were spent in a similar manner. Xander grew increasingly tired, if that was really possible, and remembered little of the trip. Saelen and Pairdra had recovered from the bloodletting, and were making very good time, now that they could alternate who carried Xander’s weight around. By the time they neared Ieccra, the physical signs of the change were beginning to appear. Both siv were glad to be home, both for their own and Xander’s sakes. Someone at the freehold would be able to help him through the change.

News of the attack must have reached the freehold, since they were greeted by sentries well before they reached the town proper. The guards greeted them effusively, showing a great deal of interest in their sleeping human companion. Once the details were given, though, the guards moved to help them, carrying Xander so they could arrive more quickly.

One guard went ahead, to make sure the healers were prepared for their arrival. All of them, not just Xander, needed to be looked at. After all, they’d been injured in the fighting.

Xander roused just as the healers began to check him out. He woke to find a white-furred siv poking and prodding at him. "Ouch. That hurts," he said sharply.

"Oh, I’m sorry," the siv said, looking contrite. "We’re trying to determine where you are in the change."

"Too far," he muttered, avoiding the probing hands. He looked down, noticing for the first time that he was now dressed in whatever passed for clothes among the siv, namely loose pyjamas. "Where are my clothes?"

The torn and stained garments were nowhere to be seen. "They’re being taken care of," the siv said calmly. Xander tried to get up, but fell back weakly. The healer continued her exam, occasionally smearing a salve on a wound here and there. Xander shrank away from it at first, but kept still once he realized that it took the aches away.

After she had finished the exam, the siv offered him a bowl of food. The container held mashed up fruit, sort of liquidy like baby food. Oh well. Xander just shrugged and slurped the stuff up, since he hadn’t been offered a spoon. It wasn’t so bad, pretty sweet over all.

"Saelen and Pairdra?" He asked, wanting to see familiar faces, if nothing else.

The siv left the room to fetch the others. Xander took the time to look around. He was in a room with wooden walls and a sloped ceiling. Through one window, he could see tree branches. It figured that tree-dwelling creatures would build their houses in the canopy. Still, it was a weird feeling, being up in the air.

Saelen and Pairdra, looking a lot cleaner and healthier, entered the room. They’d obviously gotten a chance to bathe and eat. "Xander?"

"Wondered where you were," Xander said. He’d gotten used to the pair’s easy conversation and calming presence on the trip back, and didn’t like the idea of being alone here.

Before they could talk, though, Xander fell asleep again. The healer pushed Saelen and Pairdra out of the room so she could tend to Xander. The couple sighed and headed back toward their home. According to the healer, Main’zen, Xander would be like this for at least another week. After that, his mind would clear up while his body finished changing. After another two or three weeks, all that would be left was letting his fur and tail grow in. That would be most uncomfortable.

Once they were back home, Saelen and Pairdra headed for bed. They were still exhausted, although getting cleaned up and well-fed had helped somewhat. Still, between carrying Xander around and talking to the elders about what had happened, they were about to drop.

They piled onto the ticking, pulling blankets up around them and snuggling deeply into the bedding. Both siv were asleep in minutes.